Padel in the USA – The next big serve?

on October 28, 2024 at 3:47 p.m

Padel in the USA continues to advance. There has been its own professional league since 2023. And many sports stars also invest in sport.

Text: Clemens Arning

The National Football League (NFL) with season games in Germany, the National Basketball Association (NBA) with preparatory games in the Emirates, the Major League Baseball (MLB) with the season opener in South Korea: The USA is used to its professional sports leagues and their sports to carry around the world. But what we’re currently experiencing with padel in the USA is basically the opposite. “The potential in the USA is enormous and we expect to reach over 20,000 places and 15 million players by 2030,” said Marcos Del Pilar, co-founder and managing director of the American professional padel league 2023 on the development of padel in the USA.

In 2023, the USA recorded the largest padel court growth in the world. The number of courts tripled. Anyone who knows the sports structures in the USA knows that these are mainly commercially operated locations. And the names of the cities in which they are located read like an exclusive travel guide to the USA: New York, San Francisco, Miami, Los Angeles, Austin – to name just a few. Padel can currently be found in the most important regions of the USA. Especially in California, there are numerous padel providers with facilities in major cities.

Tommy Haas and Juan Martin del Potro are involved in padel

Investors in particular see great potential in building padel courts in areas that are not exactly cost-effective. “I think we have passed what is usually called a tipping point. I believe there is no turning back now. We are in a position where we will experience something amazing,” Marcos Del Pilar is sure. For him, development in the USA is just beginning.

Even though the development of mainstream sports is still in its infancy, the national padel tour doesn’t just mess around, but rather makes a big splash. There has been a professional league for a good two years now with ten teams. “In 2025, the league will consist of around 14 to 16 teams,” says Del Pilar, the league’s co-founder, outlining the forecast development. “In perspective, we are open to growth,” he says, indicating that the potential will be far from exhausted by 2025. Padel is based on other American sports leagues, where franchises are run by investors. There are also lots of familiar faces. For example, former US Open winner Juan Manuel del Potro acts as a strategic advisor to the Miami team and hip-hop star Daddy Yankee is the main investor. A well-known German star also plays – Tommy Haas, former number two in the world and American by choice. As an avowed padel fan, he gets involved with his team, the San Diego Stingrays.

US sports stars discover padel for themselves

The numbers also show that the league is already receiving a lot of attention. According to the American padel association USPA, the 2024 tour was broadcast in over 300 million households worldwide (in Germany via DAZN) and in 90 million households in the USA. The total prize money of one million US dollars still seems meager. But the fact that the final is taking place in New York City shows that the national sport of padel is already being taken seriously.

Padel is now also very popular with many celebrities. Jimmy Butler, NBA superstar from the Miami Heat, is an absolute padel fan: “Padel complements my basketball skills on a mental level. Sport teaches me to stay focused throughout competition, which I can best apply to basketball. On a physical level, I can train my endurance and foot stability through the many changes of pace and direction,” says Butler.

“We are currently creating a new major sport. “It’s very exciting for me to be following this path,” says Marcos Del Polar, and you can see his enthusiasm. Padel in the USA – it could be a success story.